Back as Bucky Barnes in 'Avengers: Doomsday', Sebastian Stan says, "It's bizarre"
If you’ve been missing a certain someone, you’re in luck: a star is talking about reprising a signature role in Avengers: Doomsday.
In a new chat with Radio Times, Sebastian Stan said stepping back into Bucky Barnes’ boots for Avengers: Doomsday felt less like clocking in for work and more like a reunion with old classmates. After more than a decade of Marvel movies and shows with many of the same faces, he described the vibe on set as downright sentimental.
“I’ve been so lucky to be there for as long as I have, and it ’s bizarre to return to something with all of these people that I’ve known and grown up with for the last 10 to 15 years… it’s nostalgic. It’s almost like a college reunion. It’s going to be a very celebratory situation.”
Stan is once again playing Bucky in the new Avengers film, following his most recent turn in Thunderbolts* in 2025. Marvel is keeping Bucky’s exact part in the story under wraps, but Stan made clear he was most excited about suiting up alongside familiar heroes.
Who he’s reuniting with
The new team-up assembles a deep bench of Marvel regulars and legacy stars Stan crossed paths with on set, including:
- Chris Hemsworth
- Anthony Mackie
- Vanessa Kirby
- Paul Rudd
- Florence Pugh
- Ian McKellen
- Rebecca Romijn
- the late Patrick Stewart
- Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom
How Bucky factors into that lineup is still a mystery, but the reunion energy clearly hit Stan hard after spending so many years crisscrossing the MCU with these actors.
Bucky’s unfinished business
On Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Stan said he’s satisfied with how Bucky has evolved but thinks there’s more to do with the character.
“I never have any idea about what it is that they want to do, but I still feel that there’s something about this character that hasn’t totally yet been completed, and I think they know it.”
Stan first appeared as Bucky in Captain America: The First Avenger in 2011 and later headlined Disney+ ’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Most recently, he returned in Thunderbolts* in 2025 before rejoining the fray in Avengers: Doomsday.